Begin with the end in mind and minimize the grind.
By Roy Harryman
I begin all marketing consultations with this question: “What problems could marketing solve for you or what results would you like it to achieve?”
In other words: What do you want to get out of this, specifically? What will success look like?
Often, this question is met with awkward silence. It’s understandable. Sometimes small-business people are so busy working they haven’t contemplated the answer.
Whether you are an army of one or are leading dozens of employees, this question must be squarely faced before you spend a dime on marketing.
“Otherwise, you’re shooting at an unseen, unidentified target in the dark. You might hit it, but you’ll certainly waste a lot of resources in the process.”
Don’t get me wrong. Marketing certainly involves trial and error. But we can shrink the margin of error by at least knowing what we want.
Depending on the business or organization, your goal may be:
More retail foot traffic
Finding new employees
More sales appointments
Becoming known to customers in a new geographic territory
Once we know what success looks like, we can step back and begin doing research and developing a plan. At this point, there are many variables.
Should we use Facebook or LinkedIn (or other networks)?
Do we have an email database that will reach our target market?
How much do we want to spend?
Will the company run the campaign or will it be run by someone on the outside?
These are all important questions. And often there is not one right answer. But they are secondary to knowing exactly what you want and need marketing to do for you.
Take a moment now and reflect on this. Feel free to involve others in the discussion. And be specific. If you want more customers in the door, how many more do you want or need?
If you want more appointments, how many?
The clearer we can be, the more likely it is that you can create a cost-effective plan to accomplish your goal.
Roy Harryman is the principal of Roy Harryman Marketing Communications. He specializes in helping small businesses and non-profits accomplish their marketing goals, making a big impact with even a small budget.